Even without signing Dan Hamhuis, the Philadelphia Flyers look to have one of the most expensive defensive units in hockey. They traded for Andrej Meszaros moments ago and now re-signed RFA defenseman Braydon Coburn to a two-year, $6.4 million contract according to TSN’s Bob McKenzie.
Here’s the breakdown of what their defensemen will be making in 2010-11, from highest paid to lowest paid.
Kimmo Timonen: $6.33 million
Chris Pronger: $4.92
Andrej Meszaros: $4
Matt Carle: $3.44
Braydon Coburn: $3.2
Oskars Bartulis: $600K
Five players at $3.2 million or more? Wow. Philadelphia is committing about $21.9 million in cap space to put Timonen, Pronger, Meszaros, Carle and Coburn on the ice.
Could this be a sign that the Flyers are looking to move one of their incumbent defensemen or are they just trying to stack their corps up as much as possible? Coburn’s deal seems pretty fair, but Meszaros’s incoming contract is wildly excessive for a player whose skills have waned over the years.
More to come on all free agent and trade fronts ...